Julya Kinahan

Eileen Morris

POLS 155

7 December 17

Policy memo: The solution that could recover all victims

Part 1: Policy Background

Throughout this semester I decided to research human trafficking as my policy issue. I picked

this topic because it is horrible to contemplate about the situations people get stuck in. Whenever

I think about this I think about how privileged I am for this to never happen to me. However, this

is not the case at all because this can happen to anyone privileged or not. Regardless of the

location this can happen anywhere as well whether its the United States, Mexico, Iran, or

Australia. Human trafficking has been a worldwide problem for the last couple decades and it is

not focused on enough. My idea on a solution is to make human chipping a worldwide matter.

Im not talking about the general chips some people put into their animals I am talking about a

new an improved version that is safe to be inserted into humans. This would help the concern of

trafficking victims, kidnappings, and runaways become lower because when the situation gets

bad the government would always have access to finding anyone that has gone missing. In order

for this to be more successful everyone that has the tracking chip featured in them would only be

allowed to be found if the circumstances implied they needed to be found. For example,

suspicion of being in danger, suspicion of being kidnapped, underage runways, etc. This could be

a very easy task done by doctors if specialists took the time to think about where and how it

could get into our bodies. With all the money in the world there is enough for this to be studied

and taken care of. The government level that should address this problem is federal because this
happens all throughout the world. After all this topic should be a concern of state and local

government as well because it is such a hidden crime. Most of the time people are not even

aware this is happening around them. State government should also be aware of this because

trafficking is done in different ways. What I mean by this is a victim taken to Kansas is more

likely being taken for labor as for a victim taken to California is more likely to be taken for

sexual exploitation. State government should be involved so that they can consider the factors of

their own state and aware all its citizens of the possibilities they have to be taken. Also, the

government can give them information on what not to do and what a trafficker would be looking

for if they were attacking in a specific city. Local government can help in even smaller ways.

Their position in this would basically be making sure all their citizens are aware of what could

potentially be happening in their town. There are many different views you could have when

thinking about this my solution. One argument in support of this is how it would be impossible to

lose someone. A microchip designated to finding the location of someone is what I have in mind

in this situation. The best similarity for this product is when an owner of a dog or cat chips them

so they will never be lost if they run away or get loose. Rather than just being a location finder

the chips that would be used would also have some general information about the individual.

This is an advantage as well because it makes the process of finding someone more straight

forward. This information can also help in different situations other than abductions for

trafficking. An argument opposing this solution could be how this is an invasion of privacy. A

common argument some people already have a problem with is how the government gets all of

our emails and text messages. This makes some individuals feel uncomfortable and

unconstitutional, like they arent being treated fairly. This is a similar argument but the difference

is they would have the ability to track you whenever and wherever you are, if the factors made it
necessary. Another argument people could have towards this is how they could be more targeted

by people. One could think the governments system may get hacked and have the constant worry

of someone finding them without an important reason. However, the process of making these

chips would be so modified and worked on that it would be substantially perfect. The product

itself would be tested to be the best product it could be. After my interview with Morarity I

realized how this could potentially be a danger to any victim that gets taken into trafficking. A

trafficker may have no morals and have no problem attempting to take the chip out of the victim

(Moriarity). Even though this statement is unbearably uncomfortable it is true when you think of

a person who has no intentions of keeping their victim safe in the first place. No one can draw a

line on what someone is capable of. Although, the point of taking someone in the first place is to

exploit them so they cant put too much damage on the host. This could easily be fixed by

making the chip smaller and figuring out how to put it deeper into the body. Another option that

can be done is make everything a secret. The government should be the only ones that know

where all these objects are in our bodies. More so the only people that should know are the

doctors that do the operation themselves. So much money is passed around throughout the world

and this solution could be life changing, it would be worth every penny because it would save so

many lives in the long run. If you only think of the fact how we would be tracked you may look

at this solution as negative but if you look at it from a position if you were ever taken you would

see the positive side.

Part 2: What has happened?

The government has not done too much to help the problem of human trafficking. The only thing

that has been made is the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act which

combats trafficking involving sex trade, slavery, and labor. This is the most the government
has done to try to stop this never-ending trade. Interest groups are what seem to pay more

attention to this problem. An example of this is Polaris, a trafficking hotline. This organization is

a safety net for people who are in danger of being trafficked. They provide support and care for

victims and areas where people are scared of the idea of being trafficked because of their

environment. Other organizations like NASHI help this problem by raising awareness through

education. This seems to be the most productive thing to do for this due to the fact that not many

people know a lot about the topic to begin with. There are thousands of non-profit activist groups

that support the rescuing and recovery of human trafficking. Most importantly all these

organizations work with the prevention of this is the first place. All around the world there are

hundreds of different groups anyone can join if they are interested in this horrific problem. The

United States Department of State, Department of Defense, and The Department of Justice are

the general sections of government that are responsible for coordinating programs and efforts

that relate to human trafficking. The Department of state is generally responsible for creating the

efforts and programs that help reduce the amount of trafficking that occurs. The Department of

Defense applies DODs zero tolerance policy for trafficking in persons. Lastly, the Department

of Justice works on investigating cases and prosecuting any trafficking caught in the job. All

together these sections of government work to protect their citizens. However, the Victims of

Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act still seems to be the biggest thing the government

has done to support this.

Part 3: How Can I Continue This Work? Action Plan

If I wanted to continue this work I would start with the educational part because there is not

enough knowledge regarding this partially topic. It is crazy how much people dont know about

this problem but I was one who was like this before I made this my policy issue. Many only
think this goes on in foreign countries or third world countries; however, this happens all over

the world including the United States. Awareness is key to keeping this alive. My goal is to let

people know all they need to know and try to keep them out of danger. A lot of this starts

through the internet which is something most people use daily. This is why it amazes me how

people arent warned about the more seriously. Since my idea of a solution is so intense there is

not much I can do to myself. In order to make a difference our communities, cities, and countries

have to come together to make a difference as one. I believe this solution can save a large

amount of lives and I wish it was easier to communicate with high authorities so I could speak

my mind. Like I said before as an individual the best I can do is let everyone know what is going

on around them and hopefully it turns their minds around making them want to help as well. It is

most likely that many people would be so shocked hearing about this they would want to help.

When one realizes how this could and probably is happening in their own town then people start

to get involved. Regardless of my policy solution idea there are other ways I can help fight this

battle. After all my research, I found out about the human trafficking hotline and I am going to

have no problem calling it. If I have a feeling that someone is in danger or needs help with

anything in that realm I will pick up the phone and call. I am also going to let my friends and

family know about all the details so they can do the same. There are a few obstacles that come

into play regarding this. Danger is always a factor because this involves dangerous people that

could always be unpredictable. A lot of traffickers that have been caught look like people that

couldnt harm a thing but end up being very nasty. Ive heard never judge a book by its cover

and ever since I saw these people I know never to judge a person either.

Part 4: What did you learn this semester?

My knowledge regarding policy issues and solutions has grown enormously since the beginning

of the semester. In high school, I was introduced to a lot of new areas in government where I

thought there was not much more I could learn. However, I was clearly proven wrong when I

entered this section due to all of the information I received and learned. The biggest thing I was

introduced to which is a huge factor of the government is how it is divided into groups: local,

state, federal. I was not informed that these divisions were all government related. I have always

thought of the government as the president and high positions similar to that. I was never aware

of local government I just assumed that was a community coming together or a council. Also,

such positions like mayor I always was under the impression this was all one government. I was

also uneducated in simple topics like the presidents of the United States. In class we went

through who my classmates and I thought were the best and worst presidents and why. This

refreshed my memory on some of the legendary presidents I knew and also helped me learn a lot

of presidents I have never heard of before. The movement of the class is always smooth because

when we get in a group activity my classmates always have great comments to share with the

class. Other simply topics like explaining the branches of government were explained at the

beginning of the semester. This helped me out a lot because these branches are part of the base in

this class so it is important you understand them. One activity I enjoyed was identifying fake

news. We were given a link which had an almost game like structure that brought you through

different articles and I had to identify which article was fake and which was not. This was very

amusing because a lot of the article that were real ended up being the shocking ones you

wouldnt think would be real. It is crazy what can happen on this planet yet interesting. Another

new piece of material I became familiar with was Ted talks. This made me feel out of the loop

because so many people knew about these talks when I had never heard of them. Anyways this
was material I enjoyed learning because now they really interest me even outside of the

classroom. There are so many different topics you could listen to and so many different people

with great voices that you can learn from. Policies are a section of this class where I got a lot of

material on. I would say this is now my strongest subject related to political science all due to my

policy project. This enlightened me so much because I had so much material to cover whether it

was through my research paper or just conversations in class. The biggest skill I learned from

this class is research. I have never been given such a long time to research one topic even from

previous research papers I have done. All of the extra time allowed me to dig deep into my topic

and find small things that are important. It also allows me to know unnecessary stories that in the

end help. I read about one of the biggest websites that had trafficking running through it and its

launcher. So many people were taken in captivity because of this website and it was an accentual

part of my learning experience I did not miss due to my large amount of time. Overall, this

semester filled my brain with so much knowledge I feel like I can take on the world because of

all the information I received about my government.

 Work Cited

Federal Government Efforts to Combat Human Trafficking Listen. U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, www.acf.hhs.gov/otip/resources/federal-efforts.

I Found Great Synonyms for Dangerous on the New

Thesaurus.com!Www.thesaurus.com, www.thesaurus.com/browse/dangerous%20?s=t.

IJM Protects the Poor from Violence throughout the Developing World. IJM Partners

with Local Authorities to Rescue Victims, Bring Criminals to Justice, Restore Survivors

and Strengthen Justice Systems. International Justice Mission,

www.ijm.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0_CBvM721wIVgVd-

Ch1jDwqIEAAYASAAEgK4vvD_BwE.

Myles, Bradley. Polaris. Polaris, 7 Jan. 2004, polarisproject.org/.

Nashi. Nashi, 20 Jan. 2017, www.nashi.ca/.

News, CBS. Microchips Implanted in Humans: Practical or Perilous? CBS News, CBS

Interactive, 12 Apr. 2017, www.cbsnews.com/news/microchips-privacy-implants-

biohacking/.

Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. U.S. Department of State, U.S.

Department of State, 28 Oct. 2000, www.state.gov/j/tip/laws/61124.htm.

15 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking. U.S. Department of State, U.S.

Department of State, www.state.gov/j/tip/id/help/.